Clinton Shepherd to PSU
- Thread starter El_Jefe
- Start date
LOL little did Jordan know what would happen in the long run I believe he said PSU practices were too easy or something of that nature!!
Lest we forget:
Group 1:
Megaludis
Gross
Garrett
Tomasello
Group 2:
Fix
Lilledahl
Forrest
Hardy
Bassett
Group 3:
Suriano
Arujau
Mendez
Ono
Gross
Group 1 - NCAA champs Blaze has defeated
Group 2 - Other significant wrestlers Blaze has defeated
Group 3 - People Blaze has lost to
all before he set foot on a college mat. Kid is good.
Not a problem, Bob will budget 2 or 3 million to recruit a few transfers out of others' wrestling rooms and keep the dual within 30 and the NCAAs within 70 or 80.
Cael has his plan and so does Bob, and they always seem to fit together perfectly.
Did you see CStar being a 5-timer coming out of high school?
You're thinking about Keegan (which was a huge miss)
Mesenbrink was an even later bloomer. There was a reason he was committed to Cal Baptist at first, he basically emerged AFTER he graduated already (when he won the US Open at U20 70)
Only Willie and Cael can make that claim.
Askren pushed him to take O'Toole too. I forget which podcast I was watching but Askren was talking about how instead of looking at the product in front of you sometimes you need to focus on the trajectory and Mesenbrink was coming. Askren kept telling Cael Mesenbrink had a scary trajectory. But he had recruited Facundo and they were set. Then he beats Levi for the U20 team spot and follows with a gold. Askren mentioned somewhere in there that sometimes even Cael misses. It was a cool telling.
I thought Bassett was close to plateauing about a year ago. In all honesty he is still jumping levels and looks like he will challenge for a national championship out of the gate. His results this past year in particular have been pretty darned exceptional. Good for him.
Shepherd got ragdolled by Bassett and, beat somewhat soundly by Harer. Usually top 10 P4P kids in their class don't have many results like that, and admittedly, it surprised me a bit when I watched both of those matches.
That said there are two very clear realities:
1). Cael is second to none recognizing both talent and more importantly potential. There are oodles of examples where a higher ranked kids went elsewhere and Cael recruited a less polished top recruit with lower fanfare than the headliners, who eventually became national champs under Cael.
2). Shepherd has no fear of room competition and clearly has asked and answered the question - where should I go to be the best I can be and close the gap with those other kids who have beaten me? I feel pretty confident that Clinton has both Bassett and Harer in his sights for revenge if he meets either again in college. Shepherd wants to get a lot better and PSU is the best answer.
Clinton is not today a 'sure thing' freshman contender like Mark Hall, Aaron Brooks, Markus Blaze or PJ Duke. I am thrilled he selected PSU, and am excited what he and Cael can do together. Maybe another Nick Lee, Cenzo, Levi or Carter type of Story? I wouldn't bet against it.
Shepherd got ragdolled by Bassett and, beat somewhat soundly by Harer. Usually top 10 P4P kids in their class don't have many results like that, and admittedly, it surprised me a bit when I watched both of those matches.
That said there are two very clear realities:
1). Cael is second to none recognizing both talent and more importantly potential. There are oodles of examples where a higher ranked kids went elsewhere and Cael recruited a less polished top recruit with lower fanfare than the headliners, who eventually became national champs under Cael.
2). Shepherd has no fear of room competition and clearly has asked and answered the question - where should I go to be the best I can be and close the gap with those other kids who have beaten me? I feel pretty confident that Clinton has both Bassett and Harer in his sights for revenge if he meets either again in college. Shepherd wants to get a lot better and PSU is the best answer.
Clinton is not today a 'sure thing' freshman contender like Mark Hall, Aaron Brooks, Markus Blaze or PJ Duke. I am thrilled he selected PSU, and am excited what he and Cael can do together. Maybe another Nick Lee, Cenzo, Levi or Carter type of Story? I wouldn't bet against it.
Basset’s dominant major over Joy looks even more impressive now. Now that Joy 15-0 TF Larkin who beat guys like MacNeil… Basset is closest college ready prospect I seen.. just his gas tank and pace alone he’s going to just bonus his way through college. I agree with ur assessment that he will contend for title right out the gate . Melvin Millers win over Cannon quite telling too… and with VT recruiting lights out.. they might bump off Iowa and join the big 3 soon.. or at the very least big 4.
He did beat Matt Ramos while still a sophomore in high school. Ramos had already beaten Spencer Lee, so he is at worst quite a bit better than Spencer in folkstyle at this point
It was a flo episode. It may have been the episode he was talking about the Marisola's committing to PSU, if memory is correct but usually isnt.
At the time Starocci came out of high school in 2019, I didn't envision anyone ever becoming a 5 time champ. LOL.
The last two Sure Thing 4x Champs were Gable Steveson and Spencer Lee.
Those are the last two that have used up their college eligibility. The last two are probably in high school now.
Would be pretty great to see a non blue blood enter the conversation even more unique being a southeastern school
Or are current Penn State freshman….
It probably ended up a huge miss for Keegan too.
I’m sure he did, but he might have been very content sitting there as a 3 or 4 timer had he come to PSU. Always liked the kid and think he’s an NCAA legend. I just have more trust in the CC&C Wrestling Factory than I do in the guys at Mizzou.
Cael misses on a few and I hear nothing from you. I miss on Jax Forrest and you constantly bust my balls for it.
Wtf? Lol
Cael doesn't talk about who he recruits ... at least not while he's recruiting them.
I'd bust on @WillieTheBrain too, but he's batting 1.000
They are EVEN smaller than we thought if they predicted that COVID, yet alone a COVID YEAR would be a thing!
Not saying they predicted Covid, just the 5th championship.
My point is do not assume the current hierarchy of high schools wrestlers will not change. Shepherd is one hell of a wrestler and Cael recruited him for a reason.
Yeah ... but I was using that for cover.
The real reason I bust on @johnstownsteel more is because he can take it. Cael is more delicate.
latest on my grandson,wrestled last night for JV got 30 second pinfall I think of he goes to 139 he could start!
If he bonuses his way through college that would make him a 4 timer would it not?
Not necessarily, mitchenbrink is bonusing his way through college now.. . It just mainly means I think his bonus rate will be in the ~90% he will be dominant.
Dake was a 4xer that didn’t have a crazy bonus rate.
Bo is very good and no doubt he is AA caliber right now. He has had problems against guys that are as physical as him though and once he reaches college that’s what he will face every time out. Against hs kids he absolutely overwhelms them but I don’t see that continuing at the same rate in college. Stanich is a great example. He hand fought and held his ground and won the match. Stanich is an AA but isn’t a favorite to win the title this year. To think Bo is going to come in and bonus at a 90% rate is just crazy talk. I’m not sure if he even wins a title in his college career. I think a 4X AA but I don’t put him in the same category as recruit as Jax, Blaze, PJ, or his brother Melvin
Last edited:
Call me crazy but I think if Bo wrestles this second semester at VT he could win a title this year…. Aside from SVN 149 is a mess of a weight class. Basset already major #2 Joy and beat #12Tyus, #14Valencia, #20Cade Brown… there is a lot of evidence that if he would wrestle college this year he would slot in ranked #2 right above Joy.. his only challenger imo would be SVN which would be a crazy entertaining bout.
You aren’t wrong. 149 is awful this year. Raney or Vega for OkSt next year. (They have both Raneys, Jax, and Vega for 3 weights). I think Vega at 149 makes sense with his length. Zepeda at NCSt. Joy will continue to improve. Larkin even though Bo is a horrible matchup for him. Valencia will continue to improve in folk. In free him and Bo have had super tight matches. I think next year it will be deeper
I hope Bo grows a bit and goes 157. Him vs Duke and robideau for a few years would be fun
Last edited:
Also David Taylor was only a 2 timer but I would consider him bonusing his way through college.. basically just a high bonus rate and in contention for hodge. A lot of the recent PSu greats have been “bonusing way through college but not all were 4 timers
No but Blaze will and did!
If Blaze moves up then Bassett can start to worry!
Last edited:
Anyone think that Bassett will not wrestle all 4 years at Va Tech?